Jul 25, 2008

sun2surf | "No one seems to be telling the truth, everyone seems to be lying and contradicting each other."

This was the blanket outburst from defence counsel Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin for second accused Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar, as the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial was thrown into a pool of contradictions today. His statement was in obvious reference to the testimonies of Chief Insp Koh Fei Cheow and ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin.

To this, DPP Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah retorted: "Be fair, Kamarul! If all the witnesses are liars, then the accused are liars too."

He was obviously referring to first accused Chief Insp Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar who had testified too during the trial.

Kamarul then responded saying: "If that’s the case, then there is nothing to stand on."

Kamaral’s key point during Friday's submission for a trial-within-a-trial to determine if a disclosure by Sirul Azhar should be adduced as evidence revolved around the question of whether the latter had uttered the words: "I’ve kept the items in my jacket" and "these are the items".

According to the police, Sirul Azhar had said this as he removed a black jacket from a closet in his room at his apartment in Gugusan Semarak, Kota Damasara.

Police said a pair of earrings, a ring and a Larmes watch belonging to Altantuya were found in the jacket.

Kamarul said when a careful look at the police report filed by Zulkarnain showed that it it did not describe the items of jewellery as having been found in the jacket.

"The inference is obvious, when the report was filled up, the police had not decided where the items should be said to have been found," he said. ... selanjutnya.